Existing cutlery is generally ineffective for taking food easily from serving dishes. This is especially true when food is being shared among several users. In addition, personal hygiene considerations are becoming so increasingly important that a universal grasping utensil for universal use and application is highly desirable. The present invention relates to an improved implement which is inexpensive and provides a highly versatile and convenient utensil for handling, grasping, serving, slicing and scooping various foods.
Conventional tongs to which the invention relates are open-shaped, and the user is required to constantly exert an inward force with the fingers when holding an article. When moving the article by hand, for example, putting bread onto a plate or bringing a piece of cake to a table, the food or the like, which is being held, can be prevented from slipping from the tongs only by exerting forces inwardly with the fingers. This is very inconvenient, and the hand will be tired very soon by continuous usage. Moreover, this type of tongs can only be utilized to grip food and cannot be utilized to grip medicine bottles, ink bottles or the like due to the improper configuration of the holding members of the tongs. Also, the width of the article should be a little smaller than the width of the opening of the tongs' holding members, and this opening width cannot be adjusted. In addition, known tongs are not readily adaptable for separating pieces of food. Therefore, a type of multi-purpose tongs, capable of overcoming the above disadvantages and being more convenient to use is desirable. Such a type of tongs can be used instead of commonly-used chopsticks and spoons to improve hygienic conditions for public gatherings.
Conventional types of tongs have a unitary construction and are configured to spring open automatically upon release of the manual grasping of the tongs by the user. However, most types of tongs do not provide the multiplicity of functions for cutting, slicing and scooping.